Rihanna talks girls' education with France's Macron

Rihanna with French President Emmanuel Macron's wife Brigitte at the Elysée
Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron continued to reach for the stars this week - hosting R&B star Rihanna on Wednesday for what she called "incredible" talks at the Elysée presidential palace two days after meeting Irish rocker Bono.

Barbados-born Rihanna is an ambassador for the Global Partnership for Education, which is trying to raise two billion dollars (1.7 billion euros) in annual funding by 2020 towards schooling for children in developing countries.

"I just had the most incredible meeting with the president and the first lady," the songstress said as she emerged from meeting Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron. "We focused on the topic of education from a global aspect and we'll have a very big announcement in September, during UN week.

"I was so inspired and impressed by his leadership, I think this is the year of education."

Last month the singer challenged Macron on Twitter to commit to the fund.

She has also tweeted other world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who replied that "girls' education is in our feminist international development policy".

The meeting came as Macron faced criticism from French students with plans to trim a housing subsidy on which many students rely to pay the rent.